BERLIN (AFP) — Anti-terrorism prosecutors said Friday they have taken over a probe into fires at a geo-thermal plant and on a rail line in southern Germany, with extremists suspected of starting both.

Several explosions went off Monday at the site of a new geo-thermal plant in Bavaria's Polling city, resulting in fires that damaged construction machinery.

Not far from the site, cables for the train line linking Tuessling and Muehldorf also went up in flames, bringing rail traffic to a halt on Monday morning.

Prosecutors estimate the damage at 2.5 million euros ($2.6 million).

The suspected arson came a month after conduits holding railway cables went up in flames in an apparent politically-motivated crime that seriously disrupted train traffic in northern Germany.

An anonymous letter published on a far-left website claimed responsibility for the action, saying the "sabotage" was carried out as a protest against "neo-colonial exploitation and Earth destroying extraction of raw materials".